10 June 2007

First Anniversary

My wife and I celebrated our first anniversary this weekend. We went up to Gruene, Texas (within the New Braunfels city limits) and stayed in an inn on the Guadeloupe River. I got a really cool "river package" that included a day full of rafting on Saturday.

Our planned guide ended up bailing at the last minute for a "family emergency." It turned out that the guy in the couple waiting next to us worked as a guide for the same company when he was in college. He knows the owner, so he offered to be our guide if the company would comp his and his girlfriend's rafting for the day. They agreed and we had a blast.

It took us about three hours to get all the way down to the exit "beach" near the low bridge into Gruene. The water was damn cold, but it felt great in the hot Texas sun. The "rapids" weren't too rough, but they were fun just the same and I got drenched! As the next-strongest-swimmer and paddler, our guide had me take the front whenever we went over a fall.

We then spent the rest of Saturday evening in Gruene itself. I found some original prints of North American's "Century Series" fighters that the antiques house bought from an estate auction of a former test pilot. I've just got to decide which ones to give my dad for Father's Day (he's a history buff, too) and which ones I want to keep! Big Grin There are two F-86 Sabre prints, one F-100 Super Sabre print, one T-6 Texan trainer print, and a photo of the pilot in a Lockheed Shooting Star! I got them all for $58.

Our river package also included dinner at one of the grills overlooking the river. We split an incredible pork tenderloin dish and some strawberry shortcake. :)

Today, my wife and I spent the day at Natural Bridge Caverns before we came back to Houston. She and I love geology and caves, so I knew we had to go there. I hadn't visited it in 10 years, so I was excited to see the renovations. $25 each gets you a combo pass on both their North Cavern tour and their Jeremy Room tour.

The North Cavern tour is their standard, 75 min tour that they've been giving since the 60s. It's still gorgeous... if 70 degrees and at 99 percent humidity! I got some great pictures. I really enjoyed the Jeremy Room tour, though, because it was a smaller group and we got to carry our own flashlights. The new tour is through a previously unopened cavern that was never even inhabited by bats. As a result, the "soda straw" formations can get up to several feet long and the room is pristine except for where the pathway and the original exploratory borehole go.

For the first day of our honeymoon, we went and looked at dino fossils in Colorado. For our first anniversary, we went and walked around in caves. Hehehe, we're such geeks... and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D

29 May 2007

First Day

As first days at a new job go, this was pretty good. I sat through a reasonably boring, but relatively short "introduction to the company" teleconference. I filled out the required paperwork. I got my new NASA badge... and it turns out that I still have an active background investigation and was in their system from when I worked there seven years ago, so I got my permanent badge on the spot!

I then got to learn the layout of the simulation lab I'll be working in and started getting accounts set up. The other new guys and I even had time to get started on some tutorials towards the end of the day. Go us. :) The bosses took us out to lunch today to a local Italian restaurant. Very yummy stuff. We also learned that there is a monthly "all-hands" where the company provides lunch, too.

I think I'm going to like it here. :D

10 May 2007

I won! Oh, yeah! I won!

I won the AIAA Infotech@Aerospace 2007 Student Paper Competition for my paper and presentation based on my Master's research. :D

Not only will I get the $500 travel reimbursement for being a finalist, I also get the $1000 grand prize from BAE Systems and the bragging rights of winning official recognition from my professional society.

The judges and my adviser's colleagues all told me that I did a great job and my adviser even treated me to lunch as a congrats. I didn't expect to win, so I'm sitting on Cloud Nine.

One of my competitors had a really nice presentation, but the substance was a little lacking. The other competitor had substance to spare, but his presentation skills were lacking. Neither actually had a self-adaptive system like the one I presented. Everyone told me that I had the best all-around package in terms of giving them what they wanted to see for both the paper and presentation.

Hehehe, I couldn't help but think of that Nationwide insurance commercial where the lady wins the lottery and keeps on saying, "I wooonnnnnn! Oh yeah, I won! I won, I won, I won. Oh yeah!" That's about how I feel right now.

24 April 2007

It's Official

I called Lockheed today to turn down their offer and I then called L-3 Communications to accept theirs. I'm looking at a start date of 28 May 2007 so that my benefits, including health insurance, will start on 1 June 2007. :)

23 April 2007

Decision Time

L-3 Communications called and emailed me today to make it official. I have 72 hours to decide and I don't know what I'm going to do. I think it's time to do a pro/con analysis!

Lockheed Martin's Offer:
~$60,000 annual + benefits
I'd be working on requirements management for the new crew vehicle.

L-3 Communications' Offer:
~$69,000 annual + benefits
I'd be joining their Constellation Program contracts team and probably working on the full-scale test simulator for the new crew vehicle.

I'm having my doubts about Lockheed Martin's offer now because A) the pay is significantly lower, even when I take their automatic 4% bonus into account B) the job would be more about management and databases than real engineering and C) my friend who helped me get the interview has found out that the manger I'd go work for has been having some serious personnel problems lately of his own making.

L-3 Communications is essentially offering me everything I told them I wanted... and Lockheed Martin is asking me to bank on them for the long haul, saying that I can expect a promotion as early as January and that I'd be well-positioned for transferring to another, more hands-on engineering job after I give this a couple of years of solid work.

One of the professors here I really respect has flat out told me that he's afraid Lockheed wants to turn me into a paper pusher for them and he thinks I can do better for myself at L-3. Now that I write it all down and compare them side by side... I think he's probably right.

19 April 2007

Update

Lockheed moved faster than I expected. The recruiter got everything signed off today and was authorized to email me the offer. I have a week to decide and, if I say yes, fax the form back to her. I guess her bosses didn't want to give L3 any extra time to get an offer together. I left a message with the senior program manager at L3 this morning.

The Offer

Lockheed Martin called me yesterday to inform me that the official offer should be on my doorstep on Monday. It's a bit less than what I was hoping for, but the recruiter took the time to explain to me how they arrived at that number and we had a long talk about all the non-monetary benefits to working at LM. They have a low attrition rate, internal hire rates are high (if, say, I end up not liking this job for whatever reason), good healthcare, reputation for integrity, they've had people take pay cuts to come work with them, etc... She also raved about how the group I'd be going to work with is the nicest bunch of people she's ever recruited for (the recruiter is in California, the team is here in Houston). The recruiter also told me that I should absolutely press L3/Titan to see if they can come up with a counter-offer so that I can make an informed decision... but she thinks I'll go with LM, just the same.

Guess I need to call L3/Titan this morning and tell them that I'm going to have to make a decision by next week.

13 April 2007

I think my decision is about to get harder

I had an interview with L3 Communications/Titan Group today (formerly LinCom) and they're working really hard at getting me to consider them over Lockheed. They have a long reputation for technical excellence and their simulation program is the NASA standard now. They're also building the Constellation simulation and training lab, so I would still get to work on CEV. L3 also lets them continue to operate more like a small business than a subsidiary of the seventh largest government contractor, so everyone seems to absolutely love working there.

The fact that I was invited for a personal interview means that I'm on their very short list of candidates. Their engineering manager told me that he thinks I would be very well suited to join their "work family" and he expects to fit me with a team and give me an offer within a week or so. And I made it clear before I walked in the door that Lockheed has an offer pending, so... here it goes.

I'm torn because Lockheed is offering me the exact job that I want, but L3/Titan has the ideal work environment. Most of the guys I talked with today are former Lockheed, Boeing, etc. people who wanted to get out of the big corporate style and work for a smaller organization with more of a focus on excellence than on just making money.

But the Lockheed Martin team I interviewed with seems to be largely made up of the same kind of people as I met today... so, it's tough. I honestly didn't expect to find myself in a position where I would have to choose like this.

04 April 2007

It's not official... yet...

... because HR hasn't done their thing. But it looks like I'm going to work for Lockheed Martin.

My interview with the gentleman who is most probably going to be my new boss went extremely well today. He said that he is going to tell HR that he wants me for the job as soon as they respond to his e-mail and completely sold me on the idea that this is the place I want to be.

My friend that helped set this up said she dropped by his office a little while ago to ask how it went. His answer was, "We'll take him!"

My new job will be to help set and manage the requirements and specifications for the new crew exploration vehicle. I'll essentially be responsible, along with the rest of the team, for ensuring that the Orion does what Lockheed Martin tells NASA it is supposed to do and communicating those requirements to the teams responsible for building its sub-systems.

I'm gonna help build spaceships for a living. I'm going to get to live my dream. I'm grinning from ear to ear right now. :)

03 April 2007

Looks like yet another interview is coming...

L3 Communications' Titan division at JSC called me tonight to talk to me about projects they have going on with Constellation. The gentleman I talked to said that he will certainly recommend that I be called in for an on-site interview next week so that I can meet their technical managers and see if the organization would be a good fit.

These guys were LinCom. They then got bought out by Titan. L3 bought Titan. They're still the same core group of highly professional, highly skilled people that I remember hearing about as a JSC intern, though. The guy who interviewed me said that their average satisfaction rating from NASA is 4.98 out of 5 and that the NASA contracting manager gives them straight fives. If these guys give you a call, it's a hell of a compliment because they are very selective.

I'm a little torn at the moment. The Lockheed job is still my first choice. Though the L3 contracts for Constellation sound interesting, the Lockheed systems engineering job is what I really want to do. But L3 has an incredible reputation for being an awesome place to work that really takes care of its people. If the Lockheed thing doesn't pan out, I would almost certainly have to take an offer from L3.

02 April 2007

Another Step Closer

I have an interview with Lockheed on Wednesday. Wish me luck!

01 April 2007

Getting Closer to the CEV

The interview went extremely well. One of the recruiters said my cover letter was among the best he'd ever seen and that he was certain from it alone that Jacobs needs to find a place for me in the organization before someone else does. He almost didn't believe that a 25-year-old has both the depth and breadth of experience that I do.

We spent the entire hour chatting about my goals, my priorities, my thoughts on safety and people management, and what kind of work would interest me most. The recruiters asked me to go home, pick out the top 5 jobs that seemed most interesting to me, and email them that list so they could talk to the hiring managers and find my best fit.

To say that I was happy with the result would be the understatement of the year.

But it gets better.

Fast forward to yesterday, Saturday, night. The wifey returned home from a week visiting her family in East Texas. My monthly Firefly/Serenity gaming group also decided to meet yesterday. She was infinitely unselfish and insisted that I go see my friends, so long as she had my undivided attention once I got home.

A new couple joined the group this weekend and everyone chatted and caught up before the game started. I shared my good news about the interview and the wife, we'll call her "L" to protect the innocent, started asking me what my background was. It turns out that L works on systems engineering for Lockheed and is on the team that is designing the interfaces for the CEV with all the other modules.

I think everyone heard my jaw hit the floor and I know my eyes got as big as quarters. She smiled and asked me what my professional interests were. I said that I was interested in systems architecture and configuration evaluation. Then it was her turn to get excited. The design review is coming up in August and her division needs engineers to help with exactly what I want to do.

We exchanged information and chattered amongst ourselves while her husband looked on proudly and joked about Browncoats (Firefly fans) taking over NASA. Someone else in the group looked over and asked what we were doing. L beat me to it and said, "Trying to get him to come work for my division!"

I'm so happy I could bounce. I just sent my resume and cover letter to L at her work e-mail. Bounce, bounce, bounce. :)

26 March 2007

Interview Tomorrow!

I have an interview with Jacobs Engineering tomorrow. The recruiter says he's got something lined up that he and another recruiter think I'm "ideal" for. Here's for hoping this goes well!

15 March 2007

I think I'm entitled to be a little excited this time

I've been going back and forth over email with the recruiter for about a month and a half now. I got an email from him this afternoon asking for a new electronic copy of my resume ASAP (he can't find the last one I sent) because he's lined up some opportunities that are up my alley. He said that I might even get some direct calls from the people responsible for those jobs.

So, yes, damnit... I'm going to get excited again! =)

26 February 2007

PlayStation 3 is Mine!!!

Everyone needs their diversions. Mine now comes in the form of the PlayStation 3. :)

My local Best Buy had an invitation-only Reward Zone event last night. I won a t-shirt for beating my friend at American Idol karaoke and free ear buds for being among the first 100 in the door.

They were also giving 250 bonus point for every $100 spent... and I had a lot of gift card money to burn. So, I picked up the 60 GB model, an extra controller, the memory card adapter, Blazing Angels, and Resistance: Fall of Man.

Thus far, I am very happy with my purchase. The machine itself runs beautifully and was easy as pie to set up. It uses the same multi-out port as the PS2, so I didn't have to buy new component cables or ante up for an HDMI cable to get good picture quality.

I've been playing Blazing Angels this morning and loving it. The graphics are great, the gameplay is fun, the planes are awesome, and Ubisoft seems to have learned from Heroes of the Pacific in that the controls are much more user-friendly. Shooting down Stukas over the Thames has never been so fun!

I can't wait to take a shot at Resistance...

14 February 2007

Woot!

I finally heard back from the guy at Jacobs. Turns out that he was on travel longer than expected and was unable to contact me until this week. He still wants to bring me in some time over the next week and is going to let me know when soon. So, I'm thinking positive once again. :)

09 February 2007

Throttling Down

My contact at NASA Ames emailed me to let me know that my project has been put on indefinite hold as a result of "programmatics" (read: bureaucratic) issues. I haven't been able to get a hold of the guy from Jacobs that I talked to last week. I'm feeling a little bummed out right now, especially after getting so excited after the Career Fair.

30 January 2007

Career Fair

Rice sponsored a Career Fair today and, for the first time since I became a grad student, NASA contractors showed up to recruit people for full-time jobs! I had forgotten about the Fair, so I dashed home to put on a suit and tie when I saw that Lockheed Martin and Jacobs were going to be there. I wore the same suit that I wore to the Space Exploration Conference. This maneuver paid off, IMHO.

The Jacobs people were really excited to talk to me and their NASA rep turned out to also be an Aggie engineer. "Mr. Jacobs" took a copy of my resume and says that he wants to bring me in for interviews next week after he gets back from travel. He even asked me about my schedule this semester because they might be willing to hire me even before I finish my thesis, so long as it doesn't interfere with my work for Rice!

After that reception, I had a pretty big grin on my face when I went to talk to the LockMart contingent. It was a smaller group, but their engineering rep was just the man I wanted to see. He is the lead systems engineer for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. "Mr. Orion" seemed surprised that I'd put in my resume at the company website already and not seen it, but then mentioned that LM has been in the process of revising the contract to meet the new NASA requirements since their original bid was accepted. LM should be filling their entry-to-mid level positions in the next couple of weeks, though, so Mr. Orion said he would pass on my resume directly to his hiring managers.

In the course of our conversation, Mr. Orion noticed the Space Exploration Conference pin on my lapel and we talked a little about how I organized the Rice student volunteer group at the conference. I hope that got me a few points. When he mentioned the other offices around the country, I was pretty clear that I want to stay in Houston because my wife is in medical school (and, well, Houston is home) here. Mr. Orion grinned and said that he's married to a doctor, an anesthesiologist. Small world, indeed!

Both of the gentlemen I talked to seemed impressed that I've continued working on aerospace-related research in my graduate studies, especially in a department that isn't well-known for it, and that NASA Ames/Intrinsyx Technologies is going to have me do that part-time work on the Constellation lexicon. Mr. Orion was aware of that project, even, and nodded in approval when I mentioned what I'd be doing for them.

Mr. Orion said flat-out that the long-term work for the next generation of human spaceflight is being done here in Houston. Both he and the Jacobs people said that now is the best time for a young, ambitious engineer like myself to get in on this and lay the foundations for a good career. I've got a good feeling about this. I really do.

21 January 2007

Going Back to NASA

NASA Ames called me today. They need someone to work part-time as an engineering liaison with the Constellation program engineering teams down here at NASA Johnson and they want me to do it. The gentleman I talked to is aware that I am a student and is willing to work around my Rice schedule. He hopes that this work will give me enough networking opportunities to lead to a permanent offer down here in Houston after I finish my M.S. in May.

As I understand it, NASA Ames is putting together a lexicon of technical terms to cover the entire program and they need someone to get input from all of the engineering teams here in Houston. My job will be to act as a communications link between the linguists in California and the engineers at NASA Johnson Space Center. I'll get to meet with all of the different teams working on the new launch and crew vehicles.

I am grinning from ear to ear today.